Originally posted by sh76He is a complete idiot! And the whole of Europe is jolly glad he's going.
Who is he and why is he resigning?
* Okay, I know a little bit more about the situation than that, but this seems like as good a way as any to kick it off.
We need a bit of light relief in these trying times.
Originally posted by sh76Here's the editorial from The Times on the morning Berlusconi announced his resignation.
Why is he a complete idiot?
Why is the whole of Europe jolly glad he's going?
"Nobody, said Viscount Melbourne, ever did anything very foolish except from strong principle. The recent history of Italy refutes him. Silvio Berlusconi has been Prime Minister for nine of the past seventeen years. In that time, he has disgraced himself and humiliated his country with a record of boorishness, fecklessness and ineptitude that is all the more more spectacular for having no obvious end except his own perpetuation in office."
Originally posted by sh76As for why he is a complete idiot, check the "Controversies" section of the Wikipedia article on him. It's huge. And perhaps a bit amusing, if you forget that this guy was boss of the fourth largest European economy for almost 10 years.
Okay, that's a start.
Please elaborate though.
Why is he a complete idiot?
Why is the whole of Europe jolly glad he's going?
Europe is glad he is going because he is an inept douchebag with ties to the mob. Then again, the Italian electoral system is a mess and in dire need of reform. Perhaps the following "technocrat" government can do something about it.
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Originally posted by RevRSleekerDean, absolutely right! He's still a very dangerous man to freedom in that part of the world.
You guys seem to forget that he's still the leader of one of the largest coalition parties and with vast business interests and a family fortune of $9Billion, he'll naturally be pulling all manner of strings...after all, by hook and by crook, that's all he's ever done.
Italy is a very confusing country - it works like the bumble bee supposedly flies - ie despite being impossible.
As I recall, at the time Berlusconi came to power, the general idea was that he was a successful business man who would have the skills and the acumen to put an end to Italy's corrupted political traditions and introduce radical, modernising reforms. After all - business people are far more capable than professional politicians and they are great at making the hard decisions and cutting to the real stuff.
As such he is a warning to other countries where cynicism about politics is encouraged by the fans of business. Running a country is not at all like running a profitable business and if it was it would be totally corrupt.
There was a highly depressing article in yesterday's Times (can't post it here as it's subscription only) about how Berlusconi has left Italy's cultural heritage to rot. Italy has more world heritage sites (45) than any other country, but the cultural budget has been repeatedly slashed under the current administration until it now stands at a level way below those in other developed countries (0.18% of public spending). Sites as famous as Pompeii are threatened with collapse.
This may sound like it's less of an urgent priority now in these times of economic crisis. But since the 45 million tourists who visit Italy every year provide 8.6% of it GDP, Berlusconi's neglect of the country's heritage can be seen as a disaster even from a purely economic standpoint.
And in a century or two, Berlusconi's administration could well be remembered mainly as the government that presided over an irreplaceable cultural loss.